Happy Birthday, Diego! Our friend from Costa Rica, Diego, turns 21 tomorrow (Monday), but we celebrated tonight at the Mulder's house. We had a fun meal and then had a Mulder Morsel Birthday Cookie...a HUGE cookie that was cut up then served with ice cream and hot fudge. Can you tell the kids were in Heaven? Happy Birthday, Diego!
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Kind of a tough weekend around here. The kids were hard for me to handle and I have lots going on so I was probably shorter with them than usual. I've decided to make a couple of changes in some of our day-to-day as well as weekend routines...just to give us a little breather. It's tough to be SO busy all weekend and even harder when the kids are being difficult. I'm hoping for a good day tomorrow and a great start to a new week!
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We leave for Florida in 3 1/2 weeks and I'm not prepared at all. Tomorrow I hope to go through the kids' clothes to see if they need anything. I buy so much ahead that I kind of think that they are pretty close to all set so that will be good. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with expenses since I need some new clothes (including the most overpriced item of clothing...a bathing suit!), we are driving this year so we'll have all the gas to pay for, meals on the road and we'll need to get a hotel on the way down because there is no way Colin and I can drive through the night because we'd have to stay up the whole time. Just a lot of little things to pay for that get costly. I feel my anxiety getting bad, so let's not elaborate on that anymore! :)
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Does anyone have suggestions for Colin and I for the drive to Florida? It will be just the 4 of us for 20+ hours in the van...and it looks like we'll have to stop for the night. The kids will have personal dvd players for movies. Other suggestions for keeping them busy and easing the strain on the two of us?
6 comments:
My kids loved the personal aquadoodle books. Good for a few hours of entertainment anyway!! I hope you have a great week!! Blessings!
when we drive to ontario- about 5 hours- they watch movies but they also like to listen to music, sleep, and look at books. But 20 hours...good luck!
1) Even though I've never been *in* the Mulders' house, I could tell that was the location of the first photo from drawing that window. :)
2) By all means, girl, get some breathing room in there! I don't know how you do it. :) Hope the rest of your weekend was low-key and relaxing.
3) Have you searched online for kids activities on the road? One thing that was important for Eden on our way down to SC (though she was much younger) was keeping our bag of tricks up front and rationing out the toys and games so they seemed new when we introduced them. Roadside bingo with prizes? MagnaDoodles/ Etch-a-Sketch? Magnet / activity books? The DVD players sound like a GREAT idea. Let me know what you come up with! I'm sure if Derek and I ever attempt a family vacation we won't be flying there, wherever it is! :)
4) Had coffee with Margaret and Denise this morning... just thinking of the old Grille Gang back in the day... :)
I'm from NC and we still drive at least 4-5 times a year there. It is anywhere from 12-15 hours depending on where we are going that trip. I always pack different snacks than the kids are used to having so they have that to look forward to. I also give them each a little bag of their own pens/crayons/notepads/coloring books to keep next to them. We always take pillows and blankets for each kid as well. I find that they sleep way more in the car (out of sheer boredom maybe) as long as they are comfortable. Also, we play the A-Z game (find those letters on road signs) several times. And the "quiet game" is a huge hit for me and Ryan and the kids love to play that several times. :-) I do find also that my kids tend not to feel good in the car when we stop for fast food several times, so I end up packing breakfast for us (yogurt, fruit, muffins, bags of dry cereal) instead of stopping- saves $ as well. We have actually slept at reststops instead of getting hotel rooms if the kids are already sleeping good so not to have to pay for a hotel room we'll spend 8 hours in. Or, we stop early and let the kids swim and make a night out of it so we get our money's worth. Oh, and my best tip ever (learned the hard way unfortunately) is to have lots of empty plastic bags... for kids who throw up in the car! :-)
Have a great trip!!!!!
Yeah - Sarah's an expert on road trips and I would dive over flying with kids! At least they can only annoy you! I have a tip on bathing suit - if you have one to get you thru the first day maybe wait till you get there - they have MUCH better selection! Hmmm..car rides - you will have to give me tips for our road trip in Aug.! OK - no stress girl - 3 1/2 weeks is a little bit of time yet!
This would only add to your expenses, but I might suggest renting some kind of Uhaul or trailer in which to toss the kids and all of their toys into so that you and Colin can better relax on the ride without having to deal with the kids shenanigans. Out of sight, out of mind, right? I would just make sure there are pillows and plenty of blankets, cause I don't think those trailers are heated. Just a thought. Anyways, that's what I'd do if I had kids :)
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